1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media players, and more specifically to responsive media players.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Portable media players have become popular personal entertainment devices due to their highly portable nature, their ability to provide accessibility to a large library of stored media files, and interconnectivity with existing computer networks, for example the Internet. The accessibility and simplicity in downloading music and other electronic media continues to fuel the popularity of these devices as is exemplified by Apple Computer, Inc.'s highly successful iPod™ portable media player. Other manufacturers have competing Media Players offering various functionalities and file playing compatibilities in an effort to differentiate their products in the marketplace.
As discussed in U.S. Patent Application No, 2004/02241638 A1, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety; an increasing number of consumer products are incorporating circuitry to play musical media files and other electronic media. For example, many portable electronic devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) include the ability to play electronic musical media in many of the most commonly available file formats including MP3, AVI, WAV, MPG, QT, WMA, AIFF, AU, RAM, RA, MOV, MIDI, etc. With a wide variety of devices and file formats emerging, it is expected that in the near future a large segment of the population will have upon their person an electronic device with the ability to access music files from a library of media files in local memory and/or over a computer network, and play those music files at will. Such users generally wear headphones to experience music content in a personalized high fidelity manner.
Because most users of portable media players generally wear headphones to play music directly into their ears, users experience the beneficial effect of separating themselves from the noises of daily life, providing a serene audio environment of personally played music. Unfortunately, users often miss important sound events within the real world when listening to music through headphones of a portable media player. For example, another person might be talking to the media player user but because of the music playing through their headphones, the user is unable to hear the fact that they have been verbally addressed. Similarly, a siren or alarm may sound in the environment of a headphone-wearing media player user, but they may not hear the warning sound effectively, thus creating a dangerous situation for the user. Finally, a headphone-wearing media player user may try to talk to someone else within their immediate environment, but because they cannot hear their own voice, they may find themselves talking substantially too loud for the current situation. This may create an embarrassing situation for the user.